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Published: February 22nd 2011
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Dawn at The Richmond Confiteria
Experiencing the feel good factor after what has been a successful trip! Following a pretty comfortable 22 hours bus journey from Bariloche, I arrived at Buenos Aires's Retiro Bus Terminal for the final night of my trip. I was very impressed with the cama facilities on the bus and how well Via Bariloche fed us! I even slept for six hours during the night, which is very unusual for me whenever I travelled overnight on any mode of transport! However, I still prefer to fly as I get to places a lot quicker. On this occasion, I had to travel by bus because I was not prepared to pay the Aerolineas Argentinas's extortionate one way air fare from Bariloche! They know how to overcharge foreigners on their flights even if the price I was quoted was considered a 'cheaper deal' from my travel agents!
I took an expensive remise to the city centre because the bus terminal is in an unsafe part of the city even if the remise office disagreed. I read and heard of incidents where travellers and locals have got robbed and mugged walking from the bus station and city centre and vice versa. I did not want the risk of becoming another victim especially on the last day
On The Bus to BA!
I was impressed with the Cama Service on this bus! of a very successful trip!
Obviously, I was not up to anymore exploring so I just hung around the Florida and Lavelle pedestrian streets. I stayed in the Florida Suites, a big and impersonal hostel but pleasant on Florida Street. Each bedroom floor had a theme of an Argentine 'Hero'. My floor had the Diego Maradona theme (I would have prefered Astor Piazolla instead) and the wall exhibiits referred to the 'Hand of God' issue when Maradona scored in the 1986 World Cup Quarter Final football match between Argentina and England. This was from an Argentine point of view but interesting all the same. I also visited the infamous Richmond Confiteria, on Florida Street, for a morning coffee before I flew out. The coffee was exactly not cheap but worth it for experiencing the cafe's ambiance and people watching especially when you see the locals come in to have either a coffee or a brunch whilst reading their newspapers.
Time came when I took a bus transfer to the airport for my flight home. I met Ahmed (Ben) on the bus who is Moroccan but lives in Canada. Ben was catching his flight later on in the day,
My Maradona "Themed" Room
Florida Suites Hostel, Buenos Aires, Argentina like myself, and we had an interesting chat. We mainly chatted about personal safety whilst in Buenos Aires and what measures we had taken to ensure that were were not victims of petty crime on our trips. Thinking of my personal experiences, I am so glad I budgeted quite a bit of money on getting from A to B safely such as getting remises and taxis to and from airports and bus stations and also when I went out on an evening. I felt this minimised my risk and also took pride in being vigilant and aware of my immediate surroundings. I felt so sad and sorry for those who fell victims of petty crime in BA and met those on my travels and learnt about the horrors of the distraction methods that are used for stealing travellers' possessions. Sadly, Buenos Aires has a big petty crime issue but it is not any bigger or significant than to any major city with its social problems across the world. If you are vigilant, there is no need to be paranoid, and take the necessary precautions, it is unlikely that you will be a victim of petty crime. I felt safe in
Richmond Confiteria
Downtown BA, Argentina Buenos Aires and never felt threatened at all but it is best being forearmed as well as forewarned as my guide book puts it.
After a very long flight to Paris and then onto Manchester where my parents met me and took me home where I was pampered with a nice long bath; Mum's roast dinner; and my own bed for a good night's sleep. It is good to be home but I am sure I will be planning another trip to Argentina in the not too distant future!
I will do another blog in due course to sum up my trip overall once I sort the many many photos I took!
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AnnaAdventuring
Anna Louise
Good that you made it home safe and well. It looks like it's been an amazing trip!!